1. Field of Invention:
This invention relates generally to frames for mounting posters and the like, and more particularly to a unitary frame assembly formed of synthetic plastic material for accommodating a poster.
2. Status of Prior Art:
By definition, a poster is a bill or placard for posting in a public place. Thus, one finds posters displayed in banks, movie theaters, post offices, railroad stations, airports and in other public places. A poster which takes the form of a printed announcement or advertisement printed on heavy paper or cardboard and intended to be seen for a limited period is usually just tacked or pasted onto a wall, a column or a fence. When the poster has served its purpose, it is torn down and discarded.
But many posters are now intended for permanent display. Thus, posters based on original drawings of Toulouse Lautrec to advertise the Moulin Rouge dance hall in Paris are regarded as masterpieces and these are now expensively framed for display in art galleries or in well-appointed living rooms. Many modern posters are in the form of enlarged photographs of movie or rock stars, or other celebrities, and these are cherished by their fans and framed for display.
Also prevalent are so-called travel posters which depict foreign cities or exotic nature scenes and are intended to induce vacationers to travel to those sites. Such posters are sometimes highly attractive and aesthetically pleasing, and are therefore framed for permanent display.
Posters which are decorative or first-rate reproductions of works of art have in recent years attained a high level of popularity. These can now be purchased throughout the United States and elsewhere in poster stores which stock and offer for sale posters covering a broad range of subjects and themes. Also, museums, when presenting a special exhibit of a particular artist, often publish and offer for sale in museum shops posters which advertise the exhibit and carry a reproduction of one of the artist's works. Because such posters are usually multi-color, high-quality lithographs on glazed cardboard, they are not inexpensive. A typical purchaser is therefore not inclined to simply tack the poster on a wall. When purchasing a poster in a poster store or museum, he usually arranges to have it mounted in a frame suitable for hanging. An unframed poster tacked on a wall appears to be improvised and tends to curl; hence is unacceptable as decor.
In framing a poster, the traditional procedure is to cut frame pieces of wood, extruded metal or other suitable material to form a rectangular frame whose size is appropriate to the poster dimensions, the pieces then being joined together. A rigid backing board is generally placed behind the poster and secured to the frame by nails or tape. Then a hanging wire bridging the opposite sides of the frame is attached to these sides.
In many cases, the professional cost of fabricating a frame for a poster may well exceed the price of the poster itself. And because the poster is sealed into the frame, should one wish to replace the poster with another poster, this cannot easily be done, for one then has to first remove the backing board and the nails or tape which holds the board in place. And after putting in a new poster, one must again nail in the backing board or use tape, clips or other means to hold the backing board to the frame.
To reduce the costs of fabricating a poster frame, the Glade patent No. 4,282,667 discloses a frame formed by a molded plastic backing plate to support the poster, and four molded border pieces with slots therein to receive the margins of the poster, the frame pieces then being clipped onto the backing plate. But this multi-piece frame, though easier to put together and less expensive than a conventional frame, is not a unitary structure. Moreover, to replace the poster in the frame with another poster, one has to disassemble the frame.
The Bell patent No. 2,993,290 forms a frame for a sheet of material such as a poster or picture by means of four channel shaped frame pieces. This, too, is not a unitary frame, and must be disassembled when replacing the poster.
To provide a unitary frame structure for a picture or frame which does not have to be assembled or disassembled, the Lehere patent No. 1,904,318 discloses a frame formed of rubber which can be stretched to accept the picture to be mounted. But a frame of this type lacks rigidity and the other qualities desirable in a good quality frame.